Verisimilitude
by Facetiouslymischievious
Summary: Things at the institute are changing. Warren has Rogue intrigued, Bobby's jealous, and Kitty's confused. With the professor gone, Logan's hanging around as well as dealing with plaguing guilt. How will they take Storm's surprise announcement?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I do not own X-men in any way, shape, or form.

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"Bobby said you came back," a feminine voice spoke from Rogue's doorway. Rogue turned to fine Kitty standing there, a vulnerable expression on her face.

"He tells you an awful lot, doesn't he?" Rogue questioned sharply. She had hoped that with her powers gone, she would have more of Bobby's attention, but, apparently, he was spending just as much time with Kitty as before.

"Rogue… I'm not trying to take your place. Bobby and I are just friends."

Rogue laughed sardonically. "Yeah… I've heard that one before."

Kitty's eyes flashed. "I just came to welcome you back. It looks like I shouldn't have bothered."

"You got that right. Look…" Rogue said, taking a couple steps toward Kitty. She felt kind of bad. It wasn't Kitty's fault that Rogue hadn't been able to touch anyone. Now that things had changed… maybe she could try making friends. "I don't want to be enemies, and I don't want Bobby to feel like he can't be friends with you. I guess I'm just… feeling a little insecure. Don't take it personally, okay?"

Kitty shrugged. "Whatever." She turned to leave.

"Oh… and, Kitty?" Kitty turned, not quite sure what would come from Rogue next. "Thanks. It's good to be back." She gave Kitty a small smile, which she returned weakly.

0o0o0o0o0

Logan sat in a chair in the corner of the entertainment room. Blink (at least, that's what he called him, seeing he hadn't actually taken the time to learn the kid's real name) was sitting in front of the t.v. as usual, blinking once every time he wanted to change the channel. Logan didn't care how many times the kid did it, although the constant clicking usually annoyed him to no end, for he had more important things to worry about. Nightmares of Jean dying in his arms, on his account, still plagued his dreams. He hadn't spoken to anyone about her, or about that night, for that matter. All they needed to know was that she was gone. Besides, he figured most of them knew anyways. At least the older ones like Bobby and Kitty. Storm definitely knew. Of that he had no doubt. Speaking of Storm…

Logan stood to exit the room. "Bye, Wolverine," Blink called after his retreating back, his eyes never leaving the t.v. screen.

"Yup."

A few minutes later, Logan entered Storm's new office. It was the Professor's old one, and both of them were still getting used to her occupying it. "Storm? You in here?"

"Out here, Logan!" her voice called back. Logan followed it to the patio. "What brings you here? You headed out?"

Logan shook his head, leaning his forearms on the cement railing Storm was also leaning against. "Nope. I think you're stuck with me for a while." She turned, studying him for a moment. He allowed her to, knowing she wouldn't find what she was looking for.

"Why won't you let me in?" she finally questioned softly.

Logan chuckled. "Storm… you couldn't get in even if you _were_ psychic. Besides… you don't want to. Trust me."

"It's Jean, isn't it?"

"I don't want to talk about Jean."

"It didn't take you this long after the first time."

Logan pushed himself up off the railing, his eyes blazing as he glared at her. "Yeah? Well I didn't kill her the first time, did I?"

Storm looked away. "You did what you had to, Logan. Nobody blames you for her death. Nobody but yourself."

"Look… I didn't come out here to talk about what happened. I just wanted to know if you needed me for anything seeing that I'll be staying here indefinitely."

Storm sighed heavily. "Fine. If that's they way you want to be."

"It's a simple question, Storm."

The edge in his voice wasn't lost on her, and she dropped the subject. "Well, we have several new students in classes this year."

"Your point?"

Storm gave him a look. "My point is that it would help if you could keep an eye out for problems. You know… between students."

Logan's lips twitched slightly. "Any in particular?"

Storm nodded. "Jimmy."

Logan gave her a skeptical look. "You think he's gonna cause problems?"

"No, I think that the other kids are going to… need some adjusting time. I just want everything to go smoothly. This isn't a normal school, Logan. Things are more dangerous here."

"Yes, I'm aware of that, Storm."

"Just keep an eye out for me, will you?"

Logan smiled. "Sure thing." He began to leave, when her next statement stopped him.

"Rogue's back."

He paused for a moment. "Did she…"

"Why don't you go see for yourself?"

Logan nodded once and disappeared back into the mansion. Storm sighed. He was taking Jean's death hard… just as she'd feared. With the professor gone, she needed him more than ever. She needed him to be himself, though, not just present. Maybe working with the students would be good for him. She hoped so… for come second quarter, she'd need him more than ever… he just didn't know why yet.

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**A/N**: Well? What do you think? This is my first X-men fic, so advice/thoughts would be much appreciated! 


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thank you so much to my reviewers! You absolutely positively made my day! I hope you enjoy this next chapter, and I'll be sure to keep your advice in mind as I write! Thanks again!

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"You had no right to do that!"

"I apologized, Bobby! _She_ had no right to run crying to you!" Rogue was beyond upset. Ten minutes earlier, an angry Bobby had marched into her room. She'd gone over to greet him with her newly allowed greeting of a kiss, but he'd stepped back, holding up his hands as if to ward her off. And then he'd accused her of being cruel to his precious Kitty! Well, dang it, the girl deserved it!

"She didn't run crying to me, Rogue! I asked her how it went!"

"It's Marie!"

That seemed to stop him. "What?"

Rogue lowered her voice along with her eyes. "My name's Marie now."

"Oh." His voice was defeated sounding. "So… that's it then?"

She looked up, meeting his eyes. "What do you mean?"

He sighed. "Ever since you got the cure… things have been different between you and me."

"Yeah, they've been better!"

He shook his head, his eyes sad. "No… I liked how things were before."

"You liked not being able to touch me? Kiss me?"

"That's not what I meant!"

"Oh, so you mean that you liked it when you thought I didn't know about you and Kitty? When you thought you were sneaking behind my back?"

"Kitty and I didn't sneak! We didn't _do_ anything!"

"That's crap! I saw you!"

"Saw me what? Talk with her? Skate with her?"

"Whatever, Bobby! Go be with Kitty!" She ran from the room, tears beginning to stream down her face as she ignored his calls for her to come back.

Suddenly, she found herself colliding with something solid… and warm. And then she found herself on her back, concerned brown eyes peering down at her. "Hey, are you okay?"

The boy looking down at her, she assumed, was a couple years older. He had short blonde hair that was kind of spiked, and a coat that dropped well below his knees. "Miss?" he asked again, "Are you okay?"

Suddenly, she realized he was talking to her. She sat up, shaking her head to clear it. "Oh, yeah. Sorry… how clumsy of me. Gosh, I'm so-"

"Here, let me help you," he offered, cutting her off as he extended his hand.

She began to refuse his help because she wasn't wearing her gloves, but stopped as she remembered that she no longer needed them. Smiling, she placed her hand in his. His strong arm pulled her to her feet, his sturdy grasp on her hand lingering a second longer than necessary. She blushed under his gaze. "I… I, uh, haven't seen you around here before," she managed to stutter as he released her hand. She wiped quickly at her lingering tears.

He gave her a crooked, boyish smile. "Funny… I was about to say the same thing." He laughed as he offered his hand again. "The name's Warren."

"Marie," she returned, shaking his hand. She gasped softly as he bent over, kissing the back of her hand lightly.

"It's a pleasure, Marie."

"So…" she began, trying to think of something to say that would keep their conversation from growing awkward. His eyes twinkled down at her.

"So."

She laughed. "You're new?"

"Sort of. I came here after the cure came out. I heard this was a safe place for mutants."

Rogue bit her lip. Why was she the only one who seemed to like the idea of the cure? "I see."

"And you?"

She returned her gaze to his. "I came here a while ago. Actually, I was brought here by Storm and Scott. They rescued me… and Logan."

"Logan? Scott?"

She laughed. "You'll meet everyone soon enough. Logan's also known as Wolverine, if that helps. He should be around here somewhere, unless he's taken off again."

"Nope, still around, Kid," a deep voice cutt in. Her eyes brightened.

"Logan!" She turned to find him standing behind her, his usual stance in place. Crossed arms, hard features, wild hair… the picture that screamed masculinity. His eyes that were usually so guarded, however, held a deep sadness that Rogue wasn't used to. She wondered about it as he looked her over, his lips lifting slightly… until his eyes found her hands and froze. Rogue watched his expression change, and felt as though a rock had settled in her stomach. "Logan… I-"

"You did it, huh, Kid?"

"It's what I wanted." She told him the only thing she could think of.

His eyes drifted back up to hers, and he gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Good. I'm happy for you."

"Really?"

He eyed her for a moment, taking time before he answered. "I'm happy if it's really what you wanted."

She smiled reassuringly. "It is."

"I don't want to be rude, but I was actually on my way to a class. I'll leave you two alone if you'll help me out with which way to go."

At the words, Rogue remembered that Warren was standing there, but it was Logan who spoke first. "Which class, Warren?"

Warren looked surprised that Logan knew his name, but he didn't comment. Rogue smiled. She was coming to realize that Logan's personality could be felt by merely standing around him. One didn't have to know him well to know that he didn't like to be bothered with unneeded questions. Warren was a bright man. As she thought this, she realized he was leaving.

"Oh! Bye, Warren! See ya around!" she called after him. He turned and gave her a brilliant smile.

"See you later, Marie." He nodded to Logan. "And thanks for the help, Logan." Logan grunted his response, but Rogue smiled in return.

"Hey, Kid, ya still got that boyfriend of yours?" Logan asked from behind her. Her eyes darkened at the mention of Bobby, but she nodded, turning back to face him.

"Yeah."

Logan lifted his chin slightly as he took in her expression. "Huh."

She raised her eyebrows. "'Huh' what?"

He smirked. "Looks like you aren't too happy with the Iceman."

"I'm not."

A quirk of his eyebrow followed that statement. "Oh?"

Rogue sighed. "We're just… adjusting, I guess. Things are different now."

He held out his hand. "Lemme see." She placed her hand into his, watching emotions run though his eyes. Caution took residence first, but that was replaced by a flicker of fear before acceptance dominated. He squeezed her hand lightly. "I hope you're happy, Kid. You deserve it."

She smiled at him. "Thanks, Logan… for everything." He nodded, releasing her hand. She laughed inwardly at how awkward he got when things got too sentimental for him, and graciously decided to change the subject. "So… how long are you staying?"

He shrugged, walls once again going up in his eyes. "I'm not sure. As long as I feel like it, I guess. With Professor Xavier gone…," he paused a moment, clearing his throat. Rogue blinked sudden tears from her eyes. It was still hard to believe that she'd never get to talk to him again. He'd helped her through so much. He'd helped them all through so much…

"Well, bottom line, Storm needs me to help out for a bit," he finished.

"Can't Scott help?"

Logan looked away. "Scott's gone too."

Rogue gasped. "And Jean?" She watched him freeze for a moment before looking back at her. His eyes were cold and hard.

"She's dead. Storm and I are the only ones left."

A tear fell from Rogue's eye, though more for Logan than for Scott or Jean. She knew how much Jean had meant to him, and although he and Scott had never seen eye to eye, she knew that he cared about him like a brother. "I'm so sorry, Logan."

He sniffed once and cleared his throat again. "Don't be. It's life. People live, and people die. It sucks, but it's true."

She blinked at his indifferent tone, but she realized it was just his way of dealing with the only pain his body couldn't heal. She gave him a quick hug. "I've got to get to class. I'll see you later?" He nodded and she turned to head back to her room, feeling his eyes watching her all the way until she turned the corner.

0o0o0o0

Fifteen minutes later, Logan was back in Storm's office. "I can't believe she did it! I thought she'd chicken out. I mean, she practically begged me to tell her to stay here!"

Storm smiled patiently. "It was her choice, Logan."

He sighed, his expression cross as he folded his arms over his chest. "Yeah, yeah. So… what are you going to do with her?"

Storm gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that she's not a mutant anymore. She can't take classes at a mutant high school. They won't apply to her anymore. Have you thought about that?"

"Yes, and it won't be a problem."

"How's that?"

"I'm making a change come second quarter."

She had piqued his curiousity, and he lifted an eyebrow expertly, showing that she had him interested. She smiled.

"I'm allowing humans to enroll."

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**A/N: **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'm hoping to pick up the pace a bit with the next one. These first two were pretty much preliminary chapters. Once again, advice and thoughts are greatly appreciated! 


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